Another new book announcement

I’m pleased to announce the publication, in E-Book form, of my next full-length story called “Night Vision”, with the subhead: “Sitting too close, and staring into the fire, can blind you to the things happening around you.”

It’s a story of a semi-dysfunctional family on the verge of separation, going on a camping trip.

Available at Amazon books.

NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT

                      NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT

I’m proud to announce the publication of my latest full-length novel “Distant Goals”. In this age of equality, this goal may not be that distant. A woman playing football in the N.F.L.

It is available at Amazon E-Books.

Powerful Message. Forget The sell.

 

When the message is so powerful for the time it airs and the concept is so intriguing, it’s no time to try to insert some kind of sell message. It’s better to do it as a feel-good public relations message. No one will notice your sell attempt anyway. They will remember the line: “Open your heart to everyone” at Thanksgiving time.

New book announcement

I’m pleased to announce the publishing of my latest book, “The Outrageous Hitting Coach.” A baseball guide with very unorthodox methods and training to improve hitting a baseball, told strategically from the pitcher’s point of view. Available from Amazon E-books.

“USING” STEPHEN HAWKING.

 

“USING” STEPHEN HAWKING.

Using Stephen Hawking as a favor to him to play a villain isn’t working for Jaguar. It gets attention, but using a person who probably was never in a Jaguar, and having him endorse it, is such a transparent use of borrowed interest. At the end, he states: “ We all drive Jaguars.”  He could just as easily have said: “We all eat at Burger King.”

I’m proud to announce the publishing of my first full-length book in electronic form. It’s called “West Thirteenth Street” and it’s a collection of memories of coming to New York City in the early 1960’s, and living on a dynamic street in those fascinating, changing times.  It covers the start of my career in advertising , beginning at Doyle Dane Bernbach.

This is not a novel. It is a memoir. The events actually happened. Only the names have been changed.  Available at Amazon Books.

CHILD ABUSE FOR PROFIT.

CHILD ABUSE FOR PROFIT.

How cheap are you to steal from your kid?  How stupid, and borderline abusive to do something dangerous to him? All for some change to buy a pizza that you are too lazy to go to your car to get your wallet to pay for? And what’s the chance he’d have over $5.00 in change in his little pockets? The idiot isn’t the character in this spot, it’s the idiots that came up with this ridiculous commercial, the person who approved it, and the client who ok’d spending his money on a TV spot designed to disgust his customers. They must be desperate for attention with all the competition around for pizza.

HOW TO START AND COORDINATE A SMEAR CAMPAIGN.

HOW TO START AND COORDINATE A SMEAR CAMPAIGN.

It’s sickening to see phony propaganda tactics used during a presidential campaign. People should be able to make a decision without being swayed by professional propaganda people.

                               7 KEY PARTICIPANTS:

1. THE ANALYZER.- Determines the most dangerous  opponent or policy. Decides the key smears to use.

2. THE SIGNALLER- Kicks off the smear campaign. It’s usually a popular comedian who makes the smear seem innocent. (late-night comedians) (“Saturday Night Live”)

3. THE PARROTS-“news”/media people who repeat smear points endlessly (the big Lie: say it often enough and it becomes truth.),   (panel discussions, talk shows) (media “spokespeople”).

4. THE WEAK DISSENTER- Used on panel discussions to give the impression of “balance”. Unable to defend or push back against the smears. Makes the opponent seem as weak as the weak dissenter.  (all panels that are loaded with 3 against 1 .)

5. THE APOLOGISTS- “spokespeople” who try to neutralize a serious charge against the preferred candidate, by equating something the opponent has said or done, whether it is equal or not.

6. THE ATTACK DOGS- Certain hosts and invited “spokespeople” on “news” programs who re-enforce the smear points. They are known as “haters” by impartial viewers, and “favorites” by ones who agree with the favored candidate.

7. THE ENABLERS- “press people” in the audience of press conferences who feed questions to the speaker (the president or the candidate.) that enables a smear answer. Or in a case when the problem is a serious threat to their cause, the question allows an “explanation” that minimizes the charge or event.

8. PROFESIONAL RIOT ACTIVISTS-taking over a legitimate protest. License to loot, steal, and keep the smear on the front pages.

See them all make daily appearances up to the election. Or even afterwards if the “wrong” candidate wins.

USING CELEBRITY’S FAMOUS FAULTS.

 

USING CELEBRITY’S  FAMOUS FAULTS.

Verizon’s FIOS TV has a way for a technician to observe a problem using the customer’s smart phone. In this case, John McEnroe couldn’t tell whether the plug was in or out. This was the cause of most of his arguments when playing tennis, about whether the ball was inside the line or outside of it. Subtle, but clever, if you know the reference.

SMALL, BUT POWERFUL DEMONSTRATES SMALL, BUT POWERFUL.

Tide uses Simone Biles to demonstrate that small can be very powerful in the Olympics and in your washing machine.

An analogy that makes the point.

BANK STRATEGY: TEACH ROBOTS TO BE HUMAN

Bank Strategy: Teach robots to be human.

  TD Bank’s new campaign of “Banking Human” is to show that people in banks don’t have to be robots. They can act like caring humans again. They demonstrate this by taking a “robot” that worked in another bank, and teaching him to be human.

Political Ads vs Product Ads

 

In the heat of the American presidential compaign, I again draw your attention to my thoughts I published in my blog (theadmanspeaks.blogspot.com) a while ago, as well as in my ebook for Amazon Kindle (Successful Advertising And Success In Life Require The Same Skills.)

Political advertising vs. product advertising.

When a claim is made for a product in advertising, it will eventually come down to the product to prove out the claim. If it doesn’t, it will be found out and disappear from the market. That’s the value of a free market system.

When a politician uses advertising to make claims about what he or she will do if elected, it’s a ploy to get votes. If they are elected, they can’t be forced to follow through. A product’s function can be demonstrated. Try to get a politician to answer why they didn’t do something they promised. They can use many excuses. The end result is that you, as a consumer, have been duped by false advertising.

[TIP] Especially during election periods, the airwaves are deluged by political ads. Some are informative, but a lot of them are nasty, putting down their competitor. The technique on political commercials is to select only positive items for your side, and only negative items for your opponent. The political “claims” and “promises” being made cannot be relied on once the person is voted into office. They probably won’t even entertain your questions why they didn’t do what they said. Be smart enough to spot the “promises” that are there merely to get your vote. Most of them won’t ever be acted upon.

Car Or Subway

Car Or Subway

Very subtle use of the tactics by used car salesmen to make a sale. Used for persuasion to “sell” a Subway sandwich. When you create a situation, use the language that goes with it.

DESTROYING A BRAND IMAGE.

DESTROYING A BRAND IMAGE.

Heineken spent years developing its brand as having a superior taste. Unmatched by any competitor.

If two top movie stars can be mistaken for one-another, the implication is that two top beers can also be mistaken for each other.

Leo van Munching (the man who introduced Heineken to America) is turning in his grave. He would fire this agency.

WHAT'S IN YOUR HOT DOG?

 

What’s in your hot dog?

Applegate is making its claim of all-natural beef in their hot dogs by showing a housewife interviewing a pumped-up man, dressed as a cow, who denies “juicing”, even though there’s a needle in his arm. An exaggeration that works.

REALLY, HONDA, REALLY?

REALLY, HONDA, REALLY?

Let’s show how cheap some of our customers are. That will demonstrate why they buy our car.

Is this the image you want for yourself if you drive this car? This jerk in the TV spot hides his kids in the car to avoid buying them some ice cream from a passing truck. An older son, who knows what is going on, says sarcastically: “Well played, Dad.”

Who creates and approves this sheer stupidness?

Fresh Way To Demonstrate MPG

 

Fresh way to demonstrate MPG

This Malibu LT TV spot has people getting into a cab only to find out it doesn’t charge the normal way. It only charges for gas used for the trip. When it comes to paying, the passengers are shocked by how small the fee is. A few cents. Because the car gets 37 miles per gallon. Nice demo.

Who's The Greatest?

WHO’S THE GREATEST?

Having Ali fight Ali is a way to demonstrate that, when you are a great champion, the person you really have to beat is yourself.

The Porsche 911 commercial makes that claim for itself, as the standard to beat.

Ali’s death gave great poignancy to the spot.

HOW MUCH DOES STEAK COST NOW?

HOW MUCH DOES STEAK COST NOW?

Taco Bell illustrates how inexpensive steak can be, now that it doesn’t cost “an arm and a leg”, in its new flatbread sandwiches.

Announcement:
Beside my advertising book (Successful Advertising And Success In Life Require The Same Skills), I have written twelve fiction stories, including my newest book"Overheard: four stories in the Accretive Storytelling style. You can access my author page: amazon.com/author/richardmurnak . They are all available in ebook form from Amazon.

WELLS FARGO "ROCKS"

                    

WELLS FARGO “ROCKS”

Everyone says to save for college, but rarely tells you why. Wells Fargo gives a good reason in a warm way.

A little girl saves stones her truck-driving father picks up for her wherever he goes.

The commercial tells you why: “You work hard for more than just you. We’ll help you save for her future geology degree.”

HOW HOT?

HOW HOT?

When everyone is touting their use of jalapeno peppers and how hot their product is, how do you show how hot your product is in a new way?

Kings Hawaiian jalapeno peppers, in their TV spot, has the father coming in asking who ate all the jalapeno peppers. His wife and kids deny it was them. One kid motions to the dog who is lying on the floor with not only a guilty expression on his face, but his face is glowing pink.

PRAISING INTELLIGENCE. FINALLY. (U of Phoenix)

PRAISING INTELLIGENCE. FINALLY. 

(U OF PHOENIX

How rare is it in commercials when you see intelligence being given its vital place in the survival of the human race? Or its necessity for accomplishing your individual goals?

When I see it, I say, finally, an adult appeal to rational adults. TV spots aren’t just for entertainment and pushing a product. Intelligence has a way of getting the attention of adults. You know the message is for you, and not for kids or spoiled young people who expect to be supplied with ready-made satisfasctions, without any effort by themselves to achieve it. Intelligence is a tool for dealing with a real world. Not applying it causes reality to come back and bite you. Let’s see more like this.

 

NOW YOU TELL US.

 

NOW YOU TELL US.

For generations Kraft has been selling us mac and cheese dinners with artificial flavors, preservatives and dyes and not saying anything about it. Now they tell us they’ve been substituting the good stuff in their product without telling us, and we haven’t noticed. Well good for them. We’ve always trusted Kraft not to give us crap, but now, because we can’t tell the difference, they’re telling us. Why was all that stuff in there to begin with? Isn’t it a bit late to apologize?

WASTE!

Waste.

Have you ever watched a commercial, no matter how interesting it was, and when it was over, wondered who paid for it, and what exactly was its purpose? Or what it was selling?  That’s a perfect example of wasting money on TV.

It’s easy to waste money advertising on TV. The time is so expensive, that if you’re commercial doesn’t have a point, doesn’t relate a specific point to your product or service, or even reminds people of your competitor’s product or service, you’ve just thrown all that money away. Or worse yet, contributed to your competitor’s ad budget.

Optimum has a series of commercials showing a bunch of idiots pretending to be professional house movers. The emphasis is on how destructive they are. Its purpose was to encourage you to move to their service (even though they don’t even mention it until the last sentence of the spots.) The series actually makes the viewer leery of moving anything, anywhere, including to their service. Considering how skeptical most people are to claims made by advertisers, that’s not encouraging.  It’s a waste of money, which you will eventually pay for in rates.

AS SIMPLE AS DIRT

AS SIMPLE AS DIRT

A message can be simple or complex. Simple is usually better. Condensing your message to its fundamental quality isn’t always easy, but in a complex world of complex messages, it’s sure to be the easiest to remember. Nature’s Care Organic Soil found a way to do it.

GOOD DEMO OF COMPETITIVE DIFFERENCE

 

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GOOD DEMO OF COMPETITIVE DIFFERENCE

Lifelock’s “Robbery” spot illustrates the difference between just monitoring a problem, without actually doing something about it, and actually working to fix it. A bank robbery is taking place and the guard doesn’t do anything because, as he explains, he’s just there to see if it’s a robbery, but does nothing to stop it.